Given Auditorium, Bixler Bldg., Colby College

The Colby Museum is pleased to welcome artist, curator, and educator Jaune Quick-to-See Smith to deliver the 2018 Miles and Katharine Culbertson Prentice Lecture. One of the most acclaimed Native American artists working today, Smith considers herself a cultural art worker, underscoring her social activism and her commitment to the preservation of Native American culture. […]

This year, Colby-Kennebec Choral Society features a musical theatre concert of Leonard Bernstein, a Stephen Sondheim revue, annual Carols and Lights performances, two concerts with the Colby Symphony Orchestra, and an appearance at the Waterville Opera House! We welcome special guests from around the country, including a concert by New England-based chamber ensemble, Renaissance Men, […]

Walter Iooss, whose work is on view at the Colby College Museum of Art through June 24 in the exhibition Game Time: The Sports Photography of Walter Iooss, is an award-winning photographer focusing on sports and beauty. Iooss has worked for Sports Illustrated for more than 50 years, and his work has graced the cover […]

Taking civic dialogue and imagination as forces for social change, Philadelphia’s Monument Lab asks the question, “What is an appropriate monument for our city?” Monument Lab, along with Colby faculty and students, will facilitate a community conversation on the role of public art. This event is part of the “Space for Conversation” series — discussions […]

The Colby Jazz Band takes up travels from a more left-coast perspective with Jimmy Giuffre’s “Four Brothers,” artist Shorty Rogers’s “Popo,” Count Basie saxophonist and composer Frank Foster’s “Shiny Stockings,” followed by Humberto Ramirez’s ballad/bolero for trumpet “Midnight Talk,” Paquito D’Rivera’s Latin funk tune “Mariel,” and Papo Vazquez’s Bomba-style work “Blue Ray.” Sponsored by the […]

Mexican artist Yoshua Okón’s videos blur the lines between documentary, reality, and fiction. He collaborates closely with his actors (often amateurs) to create sociological examinations that ask viewers to contemplate uncomfortable situations and circumstances. In this talk, he will focus on a select group of works produced over the last twenty years including Oracle, now […]

The museum invites you to celebrate the launch of the Lunder Institute for American Art with the inaugural artist in residence Theaster Gates. A sculptor, musician, urban planner, and community organizer, Gates will discuss his work combining art and social progress to transform and revitalize urban neighborhoods. Join us at 5 p.m. for a reception in the William […]

The AMF String Seminar presents a collection of master pieces performed by the Institute's finest students.

Beginning in the 1920s, the Surrealists sought to instigate a revolution that was both mental and material. Art making was central to this endeavor. As a concrete manifestation of poetic thought, visual art was proof that it was possible to remake reality to accord with the unrestrained inventions of the creative mind. This talk by […]

Since the 1950s jazz has been infused with influences from soul, gospel, Afro-Cuban, and Brazilian styles. For its spring concert, the Colby Jazz Band presents an eclectic program of varied styles, such as hard bop, R&B, gospel, and funk. Works include “Sister Sadie” by Horace Silver, “My Jelly Soul” by Charles Mingus, and many more.

Ink painter and scholar Arnold Chang will discuss the painting of several of Zao Wou-Ki’s contemporaries who left China and made their artistic homes on foreign shores.

Hear and watch students in the African Music Ensemble Jan Plan class perform music and dance. Led by master drummer Jordan Benissan, a native of Togo, West Africa, the Colby African Drumming Ensemble offers students a chance to perform music from various African cultures. Students gain hands-on experience with various instruments, including drums, rattles, and […]

This concert is dedicated to all things inspired by the letter B. In most jazz charts the letter B denotes the “bridge” section whose qualities usually include less memorable thematic material and less stable harmony, which can be the improviser’s great playground. Featuring tunes whose titles or forms start with B and many more. Works […]

Artist Leonardo Drew will present the museum’s annual Miles and Katharine Culbertson Prentice Distinguished Lecture with a discussion of his recent work and Untitled, Number 104, 2005, currently on view in the museum’s Gordon Gallery.

The Colby Jazz Band’s final concert of the season will feature idiomatic examples of a variety of classic jazz styles. Gordon Goodwin’s “Race to the Bridge” has a harmonic scheme based on what jazz players call “rhythm changes.” Bob Minzer’s “Oro Preto” is built on different Brazilian grooves and “Swangalang,” his hybrid of jazz and […]

John Coltrane's "Lady Bird" draws upon Tadd Dameron's composition by the same name and foreshadows the famous Coltrane changes. Freddie Hubbard's cool hard bop chart "Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming" is a jazz rendition of the classic 16th century hymn. Patty Darling's "Idioteque" is a big-band arrangement of the band Radio Heads' hit. But […]

Screening of the 2014 PBS documentary James McNeill Whistler and the Case for Beauty. Discussion and Q&A with Justin McCann, Lunder Consortium for Whistler Studies Fellow, to follow. Cosponsored by the Cinema Studies Program and the Colby Museum of Art.

Alberto Aguilera Valadez, known as Juan Gabriel, is one of the most prolific and successful Mexican songwriters and performers of the last 40 years and an icon of contemporary Mexican popular culture. His effeminate public persona has prompted fans and critics alike to question his masculinity. Alejandro Madrid, professor of musicology at Cornell, will discuss […]